In 2002, a civil rights lawyer from Chicago named Bob Howard looked on as then-state senator Barack Obama spoke out against going to war in Iraq.

Five years later, U.S. Senator Obama outlined his plan for ending the war at a campaign rally—and Bob was there, in the same purple shirt. Bob wore it to the voting booth in 2008, and in December, he put on his purple shirt to watch President Obama announce that all our troops would be coming home from Iraq.

See why Bob, and his purple shirt, have been there for President Obama all along the way—and why he thinks we should all show our support for the President in whatever way we can.